Conventionally, when a device for driving an opening/closing member such as a power window device and a sunroof device of a vehicle detects that a foreign body is pinched by an opening/closing member, the device performs an automatic reverse control. The device like this calculates variation (variation in the number of revolutions or the rate of variation, variation in the moving speed of the opening/closing member, and the like) caused when the foreign body is pinched in pinch detection processing and determines that the foreign body is pinched when this variation exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
For example, taking a power window device as an example, when a vehicle stops, load other than self weight and sliding resistance are not applied to a window glass, but when the vehicle is running, an external load (disturbance) is applied to the window glass by vibration. There is a case where this external load causes the same variation as is caused when a foreign body is pinched. This presents a problem that when the vehicle is running, in the process of closing the window glass, the device falsely detects a foreign body being pinched and performs a reverse operation.
In a control apparatus for a closure device disclosed in JP-H08-184257-A, when a vehicle is running, an automatic reverse control is prohibited. Hence, it is possible to avoid a window glass from being reversely moved by the false detection of pinch of the foreign body when the vehicle is running.
Moreover, in a control apparatus for opening/closing a window disclosed in JP-H10-169310-A, since a large disturbance is applied to the window when a vehicle is running on a rough road, the false detection of pinch is prevented by making a threshold value larger than a normal threshold value. That is, when the vehicle is running and climbs over a protrusion or passes over a bump, by the effect of inertia applied to the window glass, load is applied to a driving motor to vary the number of revolutions of the motor and its rate of change.
When the vehicle is running on a rough road, a large disturbance is periodically applied to the window glass. It is known that: usually, first, a disturbance is applied to the window glass in a direction to close the window glass (that is, in a direction to accelerate a motor when the window glass is closed); successively, a disturbance is applied to the window glass in a direction to open the window (that is, in a direction to decelerate the motor when the window glass is closed); and thereafter, these disturbances are applied to the window glass continuously and repeatedly.
For this reason, the control apparatus for opening/closing a window disclosed in the JP-H10-169310-A is constructed in the following manner: that is, when a large disturbance is applied to the window glass in the direction to accelerate the motor, the vehicle is assumed to be running on the rough road and a threshold value is set at a large value to reduce detection sensitivity to thereby prevent pinch of the foreign body from being falsely detected by a large disturbance successively applied to the window glass in the direction to decelerate the motor.
However, in the technology disclosed in JP-H08-184257-A, when the vehicle is running, the false detection of pinch of the foreign body does not occur but a foreign body might be pinched because the automatic reverse control is prohibited.
Moreover, in the technology disclosed in JP-H10-169310-A, when a large disturbance occurs when the vehicle is running on the rough road, the false detection of pinch of the foreign body can be prevented, but there is presented a problem that pinch is falsely detected by a small disturbance caused when the vehicle is running on a leveled road. Moreover, when a threshold value is set so as to prevent pinch of the foreign body from being falsely detected by such a small disturbance, there is presented a problem that a pinch load when the vehicle is stationary becomes large.